I'm a fan of Murderous Cut, though I often wind up cutting it as one of my final cards out if the deck is pretty good. Can't see dropping it from the cube anytime soon though.
I really agonized over dropping Phyrexian Obliterator and Necropotence from the cube, as they've both won me many a game off an early Dark Ritual or Black Lotus. It just became harder and harder to justify supporting a monoblack deck, and if you didn't grab these cards right away, you probably couldn't switch into them later.
Spitting 3/3 tokens onto the board is a big reason why Garruk, Primal Hunter is still in the cube, in spite of its triple green cost. A base mode of a 3/3 trampling token and a leftover PW seems plenty worthy for five mana. Being able to serve as an inefficient removal spell in a pinch adds to its value, as does being an Aurelia's Fury sort of alpha strike generator. The first mode isn't thrilling, but there will probably be times where you follow this with a Titan and want to pick up some extra lifegain rather than another token.
If anything, my big concern with this card is that it's a cube-worthy PW in a guild that already had two (Ajani Vengeant and Nahiri, the Harbinger). I don't think it's better than either of those, and smaller cubes might not want it in addition to them. It's similar to Gruul, where you can play Domri Rade, Xenagos, the Reveler, and/or Arlinn Kord; all will see decklists, but if you cube all of them, you won't have many slots left for other guild cards.
I thought about having a separate hybrid section, but it's not evenly distributed, and would have forced some bad cards onto the list. Instead I just put them on their guild's list.
Militant's great. The disruption doesn't make a difference the vast majority of the time, but when it does, it draws a groan.
If you're running some of the new embalm cards (e.g. Angel of Sanctions, Glyph Keeper, or Vizier of Many Faces), they make nice options to search for. Do you put them in the opponent's hand, giving them two uses, or bin them in favor of some other card, in which case they can still bring them back?
Geralf's Messenger is the same cut I identified for this at 720. BBB is just too tough a sell unless you're putting in a lot of monoblack support; I've been slowly working mine back out of the cube for more flexible options.
I left Weight Advantage out of my conspiracy section. Something about it doesn't sit right with me... it feels like too big a change to how the game operates. The eight I've got going now are Backup Plan, Emissary's Ploy, Hymn of the Wilds, Immediate Action, Power Play, Sovereign's Realm, Unexpected Potential, and Worldknit. For a while I ran Double Stroke, but I cut it for being too strong. There are some cube cards, like Time Walk, that should never get a second casting for free.
Just an FYI, I've been testing this since it was spoiled and I really like it. I'm a bigger fan of Needle effects than most, but the extra information has been key, especially on this kind of effect.
Are you trying it in place of Pithing Needle, or in addition to it? Needle isn't very popular in my group and I was consider swapping it out for this, but there are some other marginal performers on my colorless list that could go first.
If those are really the only two choices, I'd keep The Scarab God over Hostage Taker. The Scarab God is just so strong as a limited card... it really can take over a game with little to no help, and it's difficult to remove for good (or to ignore).
The only two Dimir cards I'd definitely play over either are Baleful Strix and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. I'd at least test Hostage Taker over anything else on the list; it may not prove a better inclusion than Dragonlord Silumgar or Shadowmage Infiltrator, but I'd say it's competitive with them.
This one does seem to benefit more than any other card with the legendary planeswalkers change. My 720 cube runs about 60 legendary creatures, which just wasn't enough for the Lancers to feel like good value. It runs another 45 or so planeswalkers though, and almost every one of them is game-changing and exciting to tutor up. Perhaps especially the white ones, where you can fetch an Elspeth, a W/B Sorin, a Gideon, an Ajani... it becomes a surprisingly strong line of play, since these are a respectable bodyguard for said PW.
Not really sure what to take out for it. Among white five-drops it could bump Cataclysmic Gearhulk or Angel of Sanctions, or perhaps Linvala the Preserver at six mana. Could also bump a marginal option like Solemn Recruit or Bygone Bishop from lower on the curve.
I'm not a big fan of individual land destruction in the cube. At 720 it's hard to get the deck to come together, and it's not guaranteed to be great when it does, so I'd rather keep supporting cards like Acidic Slime which can bust a land as needed but are more likely to take out something else. I do still have Sinkhole for now, but it's likely to slide back out in a future update.
My favorite mechanic is a 4 on the storm scale, but unfortunately pretty terrible for cube: morph. So I built a second cube, called the Mystery Box, that's all about morph. Can't wait for its number to get called again so I can have more options for that one.
A 2/3 makes this one a slam dunk for me. Dimir is one of my least favorite guild lists, and adding in a Banisher Priest+ that plays well with bounce and recursion is very solid. Jumping in on T4 and taking a Mox if they can't kill it in response to the trigger is going to feel pretty sweet.
This will go in for Agony Warp on my list, but I'd probably play it over Far // Away or Shadowmage Infiltrator.
Maybe this card's just not my style, but nothing about it screams "cube me". I suppose it's best to look at it as a 2/2 Illusion for three mana that loots with some long-term upside, but for 1UU that doesn't excite me. Even with the new rule change letting all the Jaces run wild side by side, this one feels marginal.
I had Fire Imp in my cube until fairly recently, but I don't see it making its way back in. Two damage doesn't kill enough, and being a 2/1 doesn't do enough. It feels like impressive new three drops are coming out with every set.
I started foiling my cube last year, primarily because of two factors. First, the continued production of the Masters sets showed a commitment by WotC to get old cards without foils, or somewhat old cards with expensive foils, back into circulation in foil at a cheaper price point. Second, I think the Kaladesh Inventions look amazing, and since they're also among the most powerful cards in the cube, I wanted to include them. The Invocations were a big letdown on that score, but hopefully the next Masterpiece series will look better.
As for which version of a card I include, it depends. I'll usually pick whichever artwork I happen to like best, unless there's a huge difference in price between the two options (e.g. Thoughtseize). I'll also get the original printing if possible, but if they're the same art and the price difference is substantial, I'll go for a later printing like the Masters sets. I'll try for an Expedition or Invention if it's available in most cases, though I won't prioritize it if I think a card might be in more danger of being cut soon. I've opted for non-foil full-art game day promos of cards when available, like Stormblood Berserker or Electrolyze. I try my best to avoid textless foils entirely because I want my players to always know what a card does. I also try to avoid stamped cards. If it's a choice between an alternate art promo and a regular foil, the alternate art is usually the one I go after unless I dislike its artwork. I'm in the process of creating custom foil proxies for cards that don't have foils; my goal is 100% completion, though I'm not sure how long it'll be before I get all the way there.
I don't have any custom alters, though I have considered it.
I'm just not sure what deck would want this. If you're playing aggro, dropping this in as a curve topper isn't going to net you a lot of opponent life loss unless things were already going poorly, in which case this probably won't turn things back your way. If you're going to recur it, you're hurting yourself as badly as you're hurting them. A control deck isn't going to jump at a finisher that reduces their margin of error. I could see it as a midrange option perhaps, but it doesn't seem to excel in that role either.
I'm not sure I'd put this in over things I'm not already playing, like some of the 5/4 flying demons with upside, or Gilt-Leaf Winnower.
I really agonized over dropping Phyrexian Obliterator and Necropotence from the cube, as they've both won me many a game off an early Dark Ritual or Black Lotus. It just became harder and harder to justify supporting a monoblack deck, and if you didn't grab these cards right away, you probably couldn't switch into them later.
If anything, my big concern with this card is that it's a cube-worthy PW in a guild that already had two (Ajani Vengeant and Nahiri, the Harbinger). I don't think it's better than either of those, and smaller cubes might not want it in addition to them. It's similar to Gruul, where you can play Domri Rade, Xenagos, the Reveler, and/or Arlinn Kord; all will see decklists, but if you cube all of them, you won't have many slots left for other guild cards.
At 720, the Boros section feels like it's got six locks (those two PWs, Boros Charm, Lightning Helix, Boros Reckoner, and Figure of Destiny), and then a lot of more questionable options. Right now I have Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder in that slot; I'll probably test this over him, though I really enjoy what he brings to the game.
Militant's great. The disruption doesn't make a difference the vast majority of the time, but when it does, it draws a groan.
I'm 5'11" and about 160 lbs.
Are you trying it in place of Pithing Needle, or in addition to it? Needle isn't very popular in my group and I was consider swapping it out for this, but there are some other marginal performers on my colorless list that could go first.
The only two Dimir cards I'd definitely play over either are Baleful Strix and Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. I'd at least test Hostage Taker over anything else on the list; it may not prove a better inclusion than Dragonlord Silumgar or Shadowmage Infiltrator, but I'd say it's competitive with them.
Not really sure what to take out for it. Among white five-drops it could bump Cataclysmic Gearhulk or Angel of Sanctions, or perhaps Linvala the Preserver at six mana. Could also bump a marginal option like Solemn Recruit or Bygone Bishop from lower on the curve.
My favorite mechanic is a 4 on the storm scale, but unfortunately pretty terrible for cube: morph. So I built a second cube, called the Mystery Box, that's all about morph. Can't wait for its number to get called again so I can have more options for that one.
This will go in for Agony Warp on my list, but I'd probably play it over Far // Away or Shadowmage Infiltrator.
I started foiling my cube last year, primarily because of two factors. First, the continued production of the Masters sets showed a commitment by WotC to get old cards without foils, or somewhat old cards with expensive foils, back into circulation in foil at a cheaper price point. Second, I think the Kaladesh Inventions look amazing, and since they're also among the most powerful cards in the cube, I wanted to include them. The Invocations were a big letdown on that score, but hopefully the next Masterpiece series will look better.
As for which version of a card I include, it depends. I'll usually pick whichever artwork I happen to like best, unless there's a huge difference in price between the two options (e.g. Thoughtseize). I'll also get the original printing if possible, but if they're the same art and the price difference is substantial, I'll go for a later printing like the Masters sets. I'll try for an Expedition or Invention if it's available in most cases, though I won't prioritize it if I think a card might be in more danger of being cut soon. I've opted for non-foil full-art game day promos of cards when available, like Stormblood Berserker or Electrolyze. I try my best to avoid textless foils entirely because I want my players to always know what a card does. I also try to avoid stamped cards. If it's a choice between an alternate art promo and a regular foil, the alternate art is usually the one I go after unless I dislike its artwork. I'm in the process of creating custom foil proxies for cards that don't have foils; my goal is 100% completion, though I'm not sure how long it'll be before I get all the way there.
I don't have any custom alters, though I have considered it.
I'm not sure I'd put this in over things I'm not already playing, like some of the 5/4 flying demons with upside, or Gilt-Leaf Winnower.